Selvage-trimming mechanism



g- 1929- 2 E. J. STANTON ET AL 1,725,220

SELVAGE TRIMMING MECHANI SM Filed Feb- 19 1925 3' Sheets-Sheet 1 929. E.J. STANTON ET AL 1,725,220

SELVAGE TRIMMING MECHANI SM Filed Feb. 19 1925 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Au 20,1929. E J, STANTO E'r A'L 1,125,220

" SELVAGQS TRIMMING MECHANISM Filed Feb. 19 1925 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 I WMZZA.

Patented Aug. 20, 1929.

UNITED STATES 1,725,220 PATENT OFFICE.

EUGENE J'. STANTON AND LOUIS G. ROBERTS, OF NASHUA, NEW HAMPSHIRE.

SELVAGE-TRIMMING MECHANISM.

Application filed February 19, 1825. Serial No. 10,343.

This invention relates to mechanisms for cutting off threads extendingfrom the selvage edge of a web of cloth.

The weaving of a pattern fabric in a box loom results in the formationof loops of filling at the selvage edge on the drop box side of the loomwhere changes are made in the color of the filling to produce thedesired pattern. Such'loops are herein referred to as loose threadssince they are not woven into the cloth. Such threads must be trimmed byhand after the cloth has been removed from the loom and this operationis known as selvage trimming.

The present invention involves a mechanism for automatically performingthe selvage trimming operation and it is the chief object of theinvention to devise a mechanism of this character which will perform thework neatly and economically. The invention further aims to devise aselvage trimmer which will be simple in constructon economical tomanufacture, reliable in operation, and which will require a minimum ofcare and attention on the part of the operator or machine attendant. Thepreferred embodiment of the invention is designed for use in a loom andis arranged to be operated by the loom. Butit is contemplated that itmay also be used independently of a loom or in some machine foroperating on cloth.

The nature of the invention will be readily understood from thefollowing description when read in connection with theaccompanyingdrawings, and the novel features will be particularlypointed out in the appended claims.

Referring now to the drawings,

Figure l is a plan view of a mechanism embodying this invent-ion,showing it mounted in a loom;

Fig. 2 is a front elevation of certain parts of the mechanism shown inFig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a side elevation of the mechanism shown in Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is a cross sectional view on the line 44, Fig. 1;

Fig. 5 is a cross sectional view on the line 55, Fig. 1;

Fig. 6 is a diagrammatic plan view of certain parts of this mechanismand the loom parts associated therewith; and

Fig. 7 is a perspective view of the grippers or fingers which form partof the mechanism shown in Fig. 1.

Referring first to Fig. 6, a portion of a web of cloth being woven isindicated at 1V. Assuming that the main body of this clot-h is White,and that B is a blue stripe, it will be evident that a white loop ofthread 10 will be formed at the selvage edge extending across the stripeB, and that a blue strand of thread f will run from the edge of thestripe B to the idle shuttle in the box, it being assumed that theshuttle S carries white thread and at this instant is the workingshuttle. The mechanism provided by this invention severs suchthreads asthose shown at w and b, Fig. 6, from the selvage edge of the fabric.

Referring more particularly to Figs. 1 to 4. inclusive, it will be seenthat the mechanism shown comprises a guide 2 which ongages the selvageedge of the web in the region between the fell of the goods and the sandroll of the loom. This guide is U- shaped in cross section with the legsof the U lying, respectively, above and below the web of cloth, as bestshown in Fig. 2. The guide is mounted rigidly on a bracket 3 which issecured adjustably on a horizontal rod 4, and this rod is arranged tohave a limited axial sliding movement in the main frame 5 of themechanism, this frame being bolted to the breast beam 6, Fig. 1, or toany other convenient support on the loom. A light coiled spring 7,encircling the rod l, acts through the bracket 3 to hold the guide 2yieldingly against the selvage edge of the Web TV.

It will be observed that the web 1V travels from the neighborhood of thelay 8, Fig. 1, toward the breast beam 6. As the web enters the guide 2,the selvage edge passes very close to the pat-h of operation of a Iknife or cutter 10 which cooperates with the guide to sever any threadsextending from the selvage. The cutter comprises a blade rigidly securedby a screw 12, Fig. 4, on an actuator arm 13. The .actuator is securedfast to the rod 4 which serves as a pivot for the actuator. As the bladeswings up and down it rubs against the side of the guide 2 and sweepsacross a notch 14, Figs. 3 and 4, at the forward part of the guide, thelower wall of this notch forming, in effect, a stationary shearing bladeto cooperate with the cutter blade 10 in severing the threads. A spring19 acts through the rod 4 to hold the cutter against the guide 2. Theactuator is arranged to be struck and operated by the lay 8, the layimparting the cutting strok from the selvage and into position to besevered. One of these mechanisms comprises a roll 16, Fig. 1, having aseries of spiral grooves on its peripheral surface which press the webof cloth against a de ,pression 17 in the frame piece 18, and at thesame time draivoutwardly any loops or threads extending from the selvageedge of the cloth. In order to rotate the roll 16 it is secured on theend of a burr or temple roll 20 of the porcupine type, the barbs of thisroll projecting into the cloth and being rotated by it as the web ofcloth moves toward the cloth beam. Both the rolls 1G and 20 are mounted.on a stationary shaft 21 supported by a bracket 22 that is adjustablysecured to the frame 5 so that the pressure of the burr .40 on the clothmay be adjusted.

The other mechanism for drawing the threads away from the selvagecomprises fingers 25 and 26 arranged to engage, respectively, with theupper and lower surfaces of the web of cloth and operative to bear onthe cloth at opposed points. The upper finger 25 is pivoted at 27, Fig.2, to a part of the lower finger 26 and a spring 28, Fig. 2, coiledaround the pivot stud 27, tends to hold the upper finger in contactwiththe lower finger. The latter finger is mounted on an arm 30, Fig. 2,which is adjustably secured by a screw 31 to a lever 82. This lever hasa flattened central portion which is pivoted in the slot of a forkedstud 33 having a pivot shank 34, Figs. 3 and 4, which is supported in adownwardly extending arm 35 of the bracket 3. A ball shaped end 36 isformed on the lever 32 and is located in a socket provided in theactuator 13.

It will be evident from an inspection of Figs. 2 and l that when theactuator 13 is moved backwardly, this movement will be transmittedthrough the lever 32 and arm 30 to the finger 26, and will result inmoving both fingers transversely across the margin of the cloth whilethey still continue to grip the cloth due to the action of the spring28. The "inner corners on these fingers will act during this movement tocatch any loop of thread attached to the portion of the selvage acrosswhich they move, and pull such a loop outwardly, as indicated i'n'Fig.7, into position to be severed by the cutter 10. It will be noted thatthe path of movement of the lower finger is so related to the positionof the guide 2 that the cloth is held firmly in contact with the fingerduring the movement of the finger, and that the upper finger isconstantly pressed against the cloth by the spring 28, the two fingersengaging the cloth at opposed point-s. As the actuator 13 is returned bythe spring 15, the connections above described will move the fingers 25and 26 inwardly again across the sel'vage of the cloth in readiness fortheir next outward movement which will be produced by the mot-ion of thelay.

When a shuttle. has been in operation and is moved into an idle positionin the box, and another shuttle carrying a filling of a different coloris brought into operation, a filling thread will be left extending fromthe selvage edge of the web of cloth to the idle shuttle. This isillustrated in Fig. 1 in which the shuttle 37 is in an idle position inthe box 38, and the thread it runs from the selvage of the web W to theshuttle 37. In the particular instance shown the shuttle 37 has been outof operation for a considerable length of time and during its period ofidleness the web has advanced far enough to carry thread 2. almost tothe cutter 10. It is essential that when this thread has been severed itbe gripped at some point so that when the shuttle 37 is again broughtinto operation it will lay a thread across the shed. It will be obvious\that if the thread t were not so gripped the end of the thread would gothrough the shed with the shuttle. For this purpose upper and lowerrolls 40 and 41, respectively, Figs. 1 and 5, are arranged at theforward end of the mechanism, that is, the end toward the lay, so thatthey can grip such a thread. These rolls are mounted in a temple frame42 which is slidably connected with the main frame 5 of the trimmingmechanism by two screws 43-413 that project downwardly through slotsformed in the forward part of the frame 5. The temple frame, in additionto being guided on these screws, is also guided by two horizontal rods,one of which is shown at a l in Figs. 3 and 4:. Springs 15, encirclingthese rods, press the temple frame outwardly away from the trimmer frameand toward the lay. A temple roll 46 is mounted in the frame 42 and isrotated by the takeup movement of the cloth, and the thread grippingroll 10, above mentioned, rotates with the temple roll 16, both of theserolls being mounted on shaft 47. The lower thread gripping roll 11 isrotated by its contact with the upper roll 40, the roll l1 being looselymounted on a shaft 49. This shaft is supported in a slide 50 which ismounted in a short verticalslot formed in the frame 42, and a spring 51acts through the slide 50 to press the roll 11 upwardly against the roll40. The end of the roll 41 preferably is bevelled and grooved to bearagainst the bevelled surface 18 of the temple roll 16, these twobevelled surfaces cooperating to facilitate the movement of a loop 5 prthread outwardly away from the selvage of the cloth between the rolls 40and 41.

After a change in shuttles has been made, the thread running from theselvage to the idle shuttle is carried backwardly into the grip of therolls 40 and 11, and they continue to hold the thread until the shuttleis again brought into operation. In the meantime the end of the threadattached to the selvage may have been severed by the cutter 10. In Fig.1 the thread i is shown still gripped by the rolls 40 and 41 after theshuttle to which it runs has been shot through the shed. This viewassumes that a change in shuttles has just been made, but for clearnessthe shuttle just put out of action and its thread are not shown.

Since the shaft 21 on which the worm 16 and temple roll 20 are mountedis supported only at one end of the mechanism shown, a

25 spring 52, Figs. 1 and 4, is arranged to bear on the outer orunsupported end of this shaft. One end of this spring is secured under ascrew 53 on the temple frame 42,

while its other end bears on -a screw 54 which is threaded into a smallbracket through which the outer end of the shaft 21 projects. Thisspring assists in holding the rolls 16 and 20 downwardly in firmengagement with the web of cloth.

It will now be appreciated that this invention provides a selvagetrimmer which, considering the nature of the work performed, is ofrelatively simple construction, is entirely automatic in its action, andcan 4 be manufactured economically. Since the mechanism, when mounted ina loom, is operated entirely by the lay, it requires no independentdriving mechanism. The fact that the cutter, selvage guide 2, and thefingers 24 and 25 are all mounted on a. common support and movelaterally in unison as the spring 7 operates to hold the guide 2 againstthe selvage edge of the cloth, is an important advantage in maintaininga 59 definite and desired relationship between these parts and theselvage of the goods,

iotwithstanding the peculiar movements imparted to the fabric by thebeatup of the lay and the takeup motion of the cloth.

lVhile we have herein shown and described the best embodiment of ourinvention that we have so far devised, it will be evident that theinvention may be embodied in other forms without departing from thespirit 60 or scope thereof.

Having thus described our invention, what we desire to claim as new is:

1. A selvage trimmer comprising, in comv bination, cutting mechansim forsevering loose threads extending from the selvage edge of the cloth, aguide for engaging the selvage edge of the cloth and relatively guidingsaid edge and said cutting mechanism, and means for yieldingly holdingsaid guide against the selvage edge of the cloth, whereby a definiterelationship is maintained between said cutting mechanism and saidselvage edge.

2. A selvage trimmer comprising, in combination, cutting mechanism forsevering loose threads extending from the selvage edge of the cloth,means for relatively guiding said selvage edge and said cuttingmechanism to maintain a definite relationship between themnotwithstanding variations in the position of said edge as it moves pastsaid cutting mechanism, and rotary means for operating on the clothimmediately in front of said cutting mechanism to draw said loosethreads away from the selvage edge of the cloth and into position to besevered by said mechanism.

3. A selvage trimmer comprising, in combination, a guide for engagingthe selvage ed e of a travelling web of cloth, cutting mechanism forsevering loose threads extending from said edge as the threads entersaid guide, and means for acting on said threads immediately in front ofsaid guide and as they approach said guide to draw them away from theselvage into position to facilitate said severing operation.

4:. A selvage trimmer comprising, in combination, a U-shaped guide forengaging the selvage edge of a travelling web of cloth, a cuttercooperating with said guide to sever loose threads extending from saidedge, and means foroperating on said threads as they approach said guideto move them into position to facilitate said severing operation.

5. A selvage trimmer comprising, in combination, a guide having a slottherein to receive the selvage edge of a travelling web of cloth, acutter cooperating with said guide to shear loose threads from saidselvage, and means for drawing said loose threads away from the selvageof the cloth as they approach said cutter to position them for severingby said cutter.

6. A selvage trimmer comprising, in combination, a guide for engagingthe selvage edge of a travelling web of cloth, a cutter for severingloose threads extending from said edge, said guide serving to determinethe relationship between said edge and cutter, and a plurality ofdevices arranged to act on the margin of the cloth as it approaches saidcutter to draw said loose threads away from the selvage and intoposition to facilitate said cutting operation.

7. A selvage trimmer comprising, in combination, a guide for engagingthe selvage edge of a travelling web of cloth, a cutter associated withsaid guide and operative to sever loose threads extending from saidedge,

cooperating fingers arran ed to extend across the margin of the clothand operative to yieldingly engage the upper and lower faces of thecloth at opposed points as the cloth travels toward said cutter, andmeans for moving said fingers outwardly across the selvage while theycontinue to grip the cloth. I

8. A selvage trimmer comprising, in combination, a guide for engagingthe selvage edge of a travelling web of cloth, a cutter associated withsaid guide and operative to yieldingly acting through said supporttohold said guide against the selvage edge of the cloth.

9. In a loom, the combination of a guide for engaging the 'selvage edgeof the web of cloth being woven, a cutter associated with saidguide forsevering loose threads extending from said edge, cooperating fingersarranged to extend across said selvage edge and to engage, respectively,the upper and lower faces of the cloth at opposed points, yielding meansacting through said fingers to cause them to grip the cloth, an actuatorfor said cutter arranged to be operated by the lay, and connectionsbetween said actuator and said fingers for causing the opera tivemovement of the actuator to move said fingers outwardly across theselvage edge while they grip the cloth, whereby they are operative todraw outwardly loose threads extending from the selvage edge of thecloth.

10. A selvage trimmer comprising, in combination, cutting mechanism forsevering loose threads extending from the selvage edge of a travellingweb of cloth, and rotary and reciprocating devices arranged to act onthe margin of the cloth as it approaches said mechanism to position saidthreads for severing by said mechanism.

11. A selvage trimmer comprising, in combination, cutting mechanism forsevering loose threads extending from the selvage. edge of a travellingweb of cloth, reciprocating devices mounted immediately in front of saidmechanism for acting on the' marginal portion of the cloth as itapproaches said mechanism to draw the loose threads into position to besevered, and rotary means in front of said devices for acting in asimilar manner on said, threads.

12. A selvage trimmer comprising, in combination, a cutting mechanismfor severing loose threads extending from the selvage edge of atravelling web of cloth, and rotary means in front of said mechanism andar ranged to be operated by the movement of the cloth for moving saidthreads outwardly away from'the selvage edge and into position to besevered by said cutting mechanism.

13. A selvage trimmer comprising,in combination, a cutting mechanism forsevering loose threads extending from the selvage edge of a travellingweb of cloth, and a rotary device having spiral cloth engaging membersarranged to operate on the margin of the cloth immediately in front ofsaid cutting mechanism to move said threads into position to be severedby said mechanism.

14. A selvage trimmer comprising, in combination, cutting mechanism forsevering loose threads extending from the selvage edge of a travellingweb of cloth, a rotary device for engaging the margin of the cloth as itapproaches said cutting mechanism to move said loose threads intoposition to be severad by said mechanism, and a temple roll driven bythe cloth for rotating said device.

15. In a box-loom, the combination of cutting mechanism for severingloose threads extending from the'selvage edge of the web of cloth beingwoven, mechanism for acting on the marginal portion of the cloth as itapproaches said cutting mechanism to draw said loose threads outwardlyaway from the selvage edge into position to be severed by said cuttingmechanism, and rotary means in front of said mechanism for gripping athread running from the selvage to an idle bobbin. V

16. In a box loom, the combination of cutting mechanism for severingloose threads extendingfrom the selvage edge of the web of cloth beingwoven, mechanism for acting on the marginal portion of the cloth as itapproaches said cutting mechanism to draw said loose threads outwardlyaway from the selvage edge into position to be severed by said cuttingmechanism, rolls mounted in front of said devices for gripping a threadrunning from the selvage to an idle bobbin, and a temple roll driven bythe cloth and arranged to drive said rolls.

17. A selvage trimmer comprising, in com bination, cutting mechanism forsevering loose threads extending from the selvage edge of the cloth, andmeans for relatively guiding said selvage edge and said cuttingmechanism to maintain a substantially constant relationshipbetween them,both in the plane of the cloth and also at right angles to said plane,notwithstanding the tendency of said edge to vary in position as itmoves past said cutting mechanism.

18. A selvage trimmer comprising, in combination, cutting mechanism forsevering loose threads extending from the selvage edge of the cloth,means for relatively guiding said selvage edge and said cuttingmechanism to maintain a substantially constant relationship betweenthem, both laterally and vertically with reference to the selvage edge,notwithstanding the tendency of said edge to vary in position as itmoves past I said cutting mechanism, and means immediately in front ofsaid cutting mechanism for drawing said loose threads away from theselvage edge and into position to be severed by said cutting mechanism.

19. A selvage trimmer comprising, in combination, cutting mechanism forsevering loose threads extending from the selvage edge of the cloth, andmechanism for rela tively guiding said selvage edge and said cuttingmechanism both laterally and vertically of the cloth and including meansfor engaging said selvage edge and guiding said cutting mechanism in theplane of the cloth to maintain automatically a substantially constantlateral relationship between said edge and said cutting mechanismnotwithstanding variations in theposition of said edge as it moves pastsaid cutting mechanism.

In testimony whereof We have signed our names to this specification.

EUGENE J. STANTON. LOUIS G. ROBERTS.

